﻿﻿1. Do you translate from French into﻿ English o﻿r from French into Italian?I am French so I only translate into French. As per the standards of the Translation industry, a translator only translates into his/her native language, as it is the only language one can fully master.

2. Can you come to “translate” for a meeting, a conference, a group of people? This is called “Interpretation”. I do not provide services of interpretation, only translation. “Translation” is everything written; “Interpretation” is oral, spoken words. I only translate written documents.

3. How long does it take to translate a document?

The average productivity for a translator is around 2500 words per day, around 5 pages per day.The more technical the text is, the longer it will take to be translated. Indeed, before even typing the translation, a translator does a lot of research and cross-checks, so if the text is highly specialised, a lot of research will be required and the translation will take longer. A good question to ask oneself is: “How long did it take to produce and write the original document?”, the translation of it will take at least the same amount of time to be completed.Afterwards, an important part of the translation process is dedicated to proofreading prior to delivery. This is an essential part of Quality Assurance, so it is important to allow sufficient time to work in the best conditions possible.

4. How many words are there in one page?

In average, a full A4 page has around 450 words (font: Times new Roman - size: 12) . This is only the average for a full page without layout.

5. Why do you charge a rate per number of source words?

This is the standard in the Translation industry. I charge per word or per hour. The rate per word is closely based on my rate per hour.In some countries, the rate is based on the number of pages (ie. Italy) or even the number of lines (ie. Germany) or characters. “Per word” is the most common tariff system and it will allow you to have a fair idea of the final cost.However other criteria are taken into account for pricing such as the technicality of the text, the time of delivery, the deadline, the format, etc.

6. What is a CAT tool or Translation Memory software?

A CAT tool is a Computer-Aided Translation software. It helps to improve the translator’s productivity and helps to keep the terminology consistent throughout the translation. The main feature is the translation memory which allows to never translate twice the same sentence as it suggests past translations done by the translator. Another important option is segmentation: it divides the text into segments which makes the translation more comfortable and reduces the risk of skipping.This must not be confused with automatic/machine translation (Google translation etc...) which is automatically generated by a machine and usually gives a poor level of quality.A CAT tool is very useful for technical translation when there is a lot of repetitions, but not as useful for more editorial text.See also: http://www.proz.com/cat

﻿7. ﻿Why ﻿ “JeromeTranslating”?﻿

Well first Jerome is my first name :-)Then it is also a reference to Saint Jerome, a Christian Saint well known for being the first translator of the Bible in Latin; this is why St Jerome became the Patron Saint of translators. He is celebrated each year on September 30th which is the international Translation day as well.See more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome